Friday, October 23
Piscataway, N.J.
7:00 PM
Rutgers
vs
Michigan State
Photo by: Bianca Borja
Oct 21 | Women's Volleyball
PISCATAWAY, N.J.Ā ā Rutgers volleyball is back home at Jersey Mike's Arena to host RV Michigan State in the Black Excellence match on Friday, Oct. 23 and welcome RV Illinois in the Pink Out match on Saturday, Oct. 24. Both matches begin action at 7 p.m.
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Rally-Era Career
Rally-Era Season
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Take a look at the climb during the Caitlin Schweihofer Era of Rutgers volleyball.
- 2026 -
Rutgers entered Big Ten action with a 9-3 nonconference record for the second-straight season, tying for the most nonconference victories of the Caitlin Schweihofer Era. During nonconference action, Zharia Harris WaddyĀ hit .833 (10-0-12) against Rider to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage, besting the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland St. on Sept. 10, 2016 by Lauren Cloyd.Ā RU also completed its first reverse sweep since 2022 in a 3-2 win Bryant. The Scarlet Knights opened conference play at #1 Nebraska in its closest match with the Cornhuskers since 2021.Ā Rutgers hit .318 in the first set against a Nebraska defense that was only allowing opponents to hit a nationwide low .081. In the second set, the Scarlet Knights turned a 23-13 deficit into a 9-1 run and thwarted set point four times. RU also topped Ohio State on the road in a sweep for the second-straight season and took a set off #15 Indiana, marking the first set win over a top 25 opponent since 2023 and first set win over a top 15 opponent since 2021.
- 2025 -
Rutgers surpassed its win total from the previous season nine games into the year, fueled by a seven-match win streak, the longest for the squad since 2012. The Scarlet Knights collected sweeps in six of the seven games. Against the Red Flash, RU swung .456, marking the best hitting percentage by the Scarlet Knights in a rally-era match. In nonconference action, RU played to a 9-3 mark with seven sweeps and a 4-0 home mark. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights set not only a school record for attendance, but the 8,000 to witness the Scarlet Knights take on No. 1 Nebraska at Jersey Mike's Arena marked the largest crowd to watch a volleyball match in the state of New Jersey. RU also picked up its first-ever Big Ten win over Ohio State as the sweep marked the most by the program since 2000 and the first time in either Big East or Big Ten play that the Scarlet Knights have held an opponent to under 20 in a match. At the end of the 2025 season, Rutgers had captured the best hitting percentage and most aces of any team during the rally era and had Lexi Visintine set the rally-era season record in aces, becoming only the second Scarlet Knight of the rally era with over 100 career aces. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights posted the most assists and aces in a season since joining the league, with Lily Bolen averaging the most assists per set in a Big Ten season. Additional season stat notables included Visinstine with the most aces since 1988, Aspen Maxwell with the most kills per set since 2009, Natalie Robinson with the best hitting percentage since 2011, Bolen with the most assists and assists per set since 2012, and Maxwell with the most kills since 2013.
- 2024 -
A youthful Scarlet Knight squad continued to rewrite the Rutgers record book, putting up several notable career and season numbers as the Big Ten expanded to the West Coast. On the attack, Alissa Kinkela, the squad's first-ever All-Big Ten attacker from 2023 and an Australian Olympic hopeful, cracked the top 10 all-time in career kills, the second-most rally-era career kills and the third-most rally-era career kills per set. Following the season, Kinkela signed to play professionally in South Korea. In addition to Kinkela's mark in the record book, Rutgers put nine entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, with a new benchmark set for blocks in a rally-era season from rookie Natalie Robinson. Ā At the same time, junior Lexi Visintine was just two aces shy of setting a new season standard in the category.
- 2023 -
More milestones continued for the Scarlet Knight program in 2023. The team was honored with its first-ever All-Big Ten attacker, captured the most wins and best nonconference record since 2012, improved its set win total by 45% over the previous season and set a school record in attendance. The Scarlet Knights collected the most kills and digs as a program since 2012, the highest serve percentage since 2016 and the most assists since 2018. Alissa Kinkela, who led the team in kills, was named Second Team All-Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights placed 12 entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, 13 entries into the rally-era team top 10 records, while collecting the most sets played, kills, assists, assists per set, digs and solo blocks by a team in conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014. Senior libero Madyson Chitty finished her career fifth all-time in career digs and senior middle blocker Kristina Grkovic concluded her career fifth all-time in hitting percentage while setting the rally-era record for solo blocks in a season and career. Rutgers improved its attendance by 50% while setting a program record of 6,757 in attendance at Jersey Mike's Arena when facing No. 1 Nebraska on Nov. 5. Additionally, head coach Caitlin Schweihofer registered her 100th career victory.
- 2022 -
The fall of 2022 saw RU 3-0 for the first time since 1998, with four Scarlet Knights named to All-Tournament squads. By the season's end, Rutgers had 11 entries on the rally-era season leaders list, including tying the record for most kills in a rally-era three-set match and graduate student transfer Megan Vernon, who wrapped up her career ranked second in the rally era in solo blocks in only two seasons as a Scarlet Knight.
- 2021 -
The second season of the Caitlin Schweihofer era saw the Scarlet Knights move a majority of its home games to Jersey Mike's Arena (formerly known as The RAC), playing members of the nation's top conference in the 8,000-seat arena. Rutgers captured set wins over #8 Purdue and #15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN.Ā
- SPRING 2021 -
In Caitlin Schweihofer's first season "On The Banks", played in the spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights established themselves as a program on the rise with numerous program and Big Ten firsts. Among the Scarlet Knights' spring 2021 accomplishments were the first-ever All-Big Ten honoree, the first-ever home-opening Big Ten victory, the first-ever Big Ten series sweep, set victories over more than one Top 10 program, along with the team's first-ever wins over Indiana and Michigan State. RU established new team, season and match records for aces, reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attack percentage and assists and collected individual conference superlatives in attack percentage, assists and digs.
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Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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| MATCH DAY INFO |
| Venue: | Jersey Mike's Arena - Piscataway, N.J. |
| Tickets:Ā | Rutgers Volleyball Ticket Central |
| Parking: | Green & Yellow Lots -Ā Parking Registration Link Coming Soon |
| Michigan State Match Promos: | * Presenting Sponsor Horizon * Dig Pink * Pink Rutgers T-Shirts (While Supplies Last) |
| Illinois Match Promos: | * Black Excellence Match *Ā "Lift Every Voice and Sing" performed by Baldwin Shields Pregame *Ā Scarlet Divas Majorettes Between Sets 2 & 3 * Post-Match Autographs |
| Game Notes: | RutgersĀ | Michigan State | Illinois |
| Statistics: | Rutgers | Michigan State | IllinoisĀ |Ā Big Ten |
| Schedule: | Friday, Oct. 23 vs. RV Michigan State - 7:00 p.m. (ET) Video (BTN+) |Ā Live Stats Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. RV Illinois - 7:00 p.m. (ET) Video (BTN+) |Ā Live Stats Ā |
| Social Media: | Facebook | XĀ | Instagram |
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| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
- Rutgers has played five straight opponents either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll and will add another two this weekend in Michigan State and Illinois, who are receiving votes this week. Last week, RU traveled to the West Coast to take on #20 Washington and #11 Oregon. Both matches were 3-1 setbacks but featured marathon sets. The Scarlet Knights and Huskies battled through 38 ties and 16 lead changes in a 21-25, 25-23, 16-25, 31-33 loss. The fourth-set marathon saw the teams play through 10 set-point opportunities. In a 13-25, 32-30, 18-25, 12-25 loss to the Ducks, Rutgers got the win after seven set-point chances between the two squads.Ā
- Malia Romes continues to lead the Scarlet Knights with 2.77 kills per set, with Skylar George dropping in 2.40 per set and Imani Howell adding 2.26 along with a .337 hitting percentage.
- Romes has led RU in kills in matches and reached double-figure kills in 14 of the Scarlet Knights' 20 matches to date. Over eight Big Ten contests, she is logging 3.03 kills per set, leading RU with 16 kills against #15 Indiana, 15 kills versus #21 Minnesota and more recently, 12 kills at #11 Oregon. Two weeks ago, Romes was named Freshman of the Week byĀ Women's College Volleyball Nerdz,Ā after totaling 27 kills, including a career-high 16 versus the nationally-ranked Hoosiers, averaging 3.88 per set, while swinging .571 with seven total blocks.Ā Ā
- Setting up the attack are Lily Bolen atĀ 5.45Ā helpers per frame and Brooke Baldwin at 5.39 per set in the two-setter system. Bolen also leads the squad in double-doubles with six this season, including 22 assists and 11 digs at #20 Washington last Friday.
- Bolen is also a Scarlet Knight to watch at the service line and is nearing the 100 career ace mark. Bolen has 26Ā aces to her credit this season, including five served up against Bellarmine and LIU. She is fiveĀ aces away from becoming the third Scarlet Knight of the rally era with 100 or more aces in a career. RU will also look to Karis Willow, who is tied with Minnesota's Mckenna Wucherer with aĀ Big Ten-leading 33Ā aces,Ā including seven served up against Bellarmine. As a team, Rutgers has served up a Big Ten-leading 137Ā on the season.
- Defensively, Howell leads the block with 78Ā total stops, 17Ā solo blocks and 1.13Ā rejections per set. Howell capturedĀ nine blocks in RU's finalĀ nonconference outing, a 3-2 win at St. John's.
- RU will also look to Kenzie Dyrstad onĀ defense with her 3.58Ā digs per set. She has led RU in the category in all but one match this season and leads the Big Ten with 265Ā total digs and is ninth in digs per set.Ā Ā Ā
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| AT THE NET |
- Watch the BTN "At The Net" feature on junior setter Lily Bolen on setting standards on and off the court with her committment to giving back and helping Rutgers earn the 2026 NACDA Community Service AwardĀ
Setting the standard on and off the court ā¤ļøš¤ @RUvball Junior Lily Bolen is inspiring her teammates to volunteer with Elijah's Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting food insecurity. Her commitment to giving back reflects the culture that earned @RUAthletics the 2026 @NACDA Community Service Award š¤ At the Net x @RUvball
— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) October 21, 2026
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| SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE |
- The Spartans comeĀ to New JerseyĀ at 15-3 overall and 5-2 in Big Ten action and have swung back and forth between the win and loss columns in the last five matches. Last weekend, Michigan State fell 3-1 at Illinois but rebounded with a 3-1 win at Northwestern.
- On the attack, the Spartans will look to Alanna Bankston, who ranked eighth in the league at 3.67 kills per set, as well asĀ Malayah Long on the set with 10.06 assists per frame to go along with her team-leading 29 aces.
- At the net, MSU is led by Carmen Waye with 77 total blocks and Zora Hardison with 75 total stops. Waye and Hardison rank seventh and 10th, respectively, in blocks per set in the Big Ten. Also defensively, Lia Schneider adds 3.29 digs per set.
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| SCOUTING ILLINOIS |
- The Fighting Illini enter the week at 12-7 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play and will meet Maryland in College Park on Friday night before making their way to Jersey Mike's Arena. Illinois has dropped four of its last five matches and went 1-1 last week with a 3-1 victory over Michigan State and a five-set setback to Michigan.
- The offense is led by Paityn Chapm with 3.48 kills per set, checking in third in the Big Ten, withĀ Kenna Phelan directing the attack behindĀ 10.55 assists per frame. Maya Harris, meanwhile, leads the Fighting Illini at the line with 32 service aces.
- Defensively, Kristina Starostenko has racked up 64 total blocks and Talita Goncalves is collecting 3.97 digs per set, ranking third in the Big Ten.Ā
| BIG TEN DISCOVER VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE |
- The Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network have announced the second year of the Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge.Ā
- Weekend (Saturday/Sunday) conference matches played October 3 ā November 1 will count toward the Discover In-Season Volleyball Challenge, with each team playing five designated challenge matches throughout the month, with the winner determined by the highest win total across the five matches. Tiebreaking procedures will be utilized in the event two or more teams have the same win total.
- Rutgers' challenge games include:
- Sunday, Oct. 4 - vs. Indiana - 2 p.m. - B1G+
- Saturday, Oct. 10 - vs.Ā UCLA - 7 p.m. - B1G+
- Sunday, Oct. 18 - at Oregon - 4 p.mĀ -Ā BTN
- Saturday, Oct. 24 - vs.Ā Illinois - 7 p.m.Ā - B1G+
- Saturday, Oct. 31 - at Northwestern - 8 p.m.Ā - B1G+
| STAT NOTABLE WATCH |
Rally-Era Career
- Lily Bolen needs fiveĀ more aces to pass Inna Balyko (2018-21) for third in rally-era career aces. She currently has 95Ā career aces.
- Lily Bolen needs 1,661Ā more assists to climb to secondĀ in rally-era career assists past Inna Balyko (2018-21). She currently has 1,771Ā career assists.
- Natalie Robinson needs threeĀ more solo blocks to move into fourth in rally-era career solo blocks, surpassing Mikaela Mattherws (2012-16). She currently has 33Ā career solo blocks.Ā
- Natalie Robinson needs fiveĀ blocks to move into seventhĀ on the rally-era career total blocks list, past Alex Jones (2009-12).Ā She currently has 246Ā career total blocks.
- Natalie Robinson needs nineĀ more block assistsĀ to move into seventhĀ on the rally-era career block assist list, past Alex Jones (2009-12). She currently has 212Ā career block assists.
- Kenzie Dyrstad needs fourĀ more digs to move into eighth in rally-era career digs past Kallie Pence (2008-11). She currently has 744Ā career digs.
- Aspen Maxwell needs 136Ā points to enter the rally-era career points top ten. She currently has 621.5Ā points in her career.
Rally-Era Season
- Karis Willow needsĀ two more aces to move into sixth in rally-era season aces past Kamila Cieslik (2017), Kristina Grkovic (2022) and Stephanie Zielinski (2011). She currently has 33Ā aces on the season
- Lily Bolen needs sevenĀ more aces to join the rally-era season top 10 list for a second time. She currently has 26Ā aces on the season. Her 38 aces as a sophomore in 2025 areĀ third on the list.
- Imani Howell needs two more solo blocks to move into fourthĀ in rally-era season solo blocks past Megan Vernon (2022) and Shealyn McNamara (2021). She currently has 17Ā solo stops on the season.
- Natalie Robinson needs three more solo blocks to move into 10th in the rally-era season solo blocks. She currently has nine solo stops. Robinson already appears twice on the list at tenth with 12 stops in 2025 and eighth with 13 solo blocks in 2024.Ā
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| RUTGERS ON THE RISE |
Take a look at the climb during the Caitlin Schweihofer Era of Rutgers volleyball.
- 2026 -
Rutgers entered Big Ten action with a 9-3 nonconference record for the second-straight season, tying for the most nonconference victories of the Caitlin Schweihofer Era. During nonconference action, Zharia Harris WaddyĀ hit .833 (10-0-12) against Rider to set a new Rutgers record in hitting percentage, besting the previous Rutgers mark of .700 (14-0-20) in a 3-0 win over Cleveland St. on Sept. 10, 2016 by Lauren Cloyd.Ā RU also completed its first reverse sweep since 2022 in a 3-2 win Bryant. The Scarlet Knights opened conference play at #1 Nebraska in its closest match with the Cornhuskers since 2021.Ā Rutgers hit .318 in the first set against a Nebraska defense that was only allowing opponents to hit a nationwide low .081. In the second set, the Scarlet Knights turned a 23-13 deficit into a 9-1 run and thwarted set point four times. RU also topped Ohio State on the road in a sweep for the second-straight season and took a set off #15 Indiana, marking the first set win over a top 25 opponent since 2023 and first set win over a top 15 opponent since 2021.
- 2025 -
Rutgers surpassed its win total from the previous season nine games into the year, fueled by a seven-match win streak, the longest for the squad since 2012. The Scarlet Knights collected sweeps in six of the seven games. Against the Red Flash, RU swung .456, marking the best hitting percentage by the Scarlet Knights in a rally-era match. In nonconference action, RU played to a 9-3 mark with seven sweeps and a 4-0 home mark. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights set not only a school record for attendance, but the 8,000 to witness the Scarlet Knights take on No. 1 Nebraska at Jersey Mike's Arena marked the largest crowd to watch a volleyball match in the state of New Jersey. RU also picked up its first-ever Big Ten win over Ohio State as the sweep marked the most by the program since 2000 and the first time in either Big East or Big Ten play that the Scarlet Knights have held an opponent to under 20 in a match. At the end of the 2025 season, Rutgers had captured the best hitting percentage and most aces of any team during the rally era and had Lexi Visintine set the rally-era season record in aces, becoming only the second Scarlet Knight of the rally era with over 100 career aces. In Big Ten action, the Scarlet Knights posted the most assists and aces in a season since joining the league, with Lily Bolen averaging the most assists per set in a Big Ten season. Additional season stat notables included Visinstine with the most aces since 1988, Aspen Maxwell with the most kills per set since 2009, Natalie Robinson with the best hitting percentage since 2011, Bolen with the most assists and assists per set since 2012, and Maxwell with the most kills since 2013.
- 2024 -
A youthful Scarlet Knight squad continued to rewrite the Rutgers record book, putting up several notable career and season numbers as the Big Ten expanded to the West Coast. On the attack, Alissa Kinkela, the squad's first-ever All-Big Ten attacker from 2023 and an Australian Olympic hopeful, cracked the top 10 all-time in career kills, the second-most rally-era career kills and the third-most rally-era career kills per set. Following the season, Kinkela signed to play professionally in South Korea. In addition to Kinkela's mark in the record book, Rutgers put nine entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, with a new benchmark set for blocks in a rally-era season from rookie Natalie Robinson. Ā At the same time, junior Lexi Visintine was just two aces shy of setting a new season standard in the category.
- 2023 -
More milestones continued for the Scarlet Knight program in 2023. The team was honored with its first-ever All-Big Ten attacker, captured the most wins and best nonconference record since 2012, improved its set win total by 45% over the previous season and set a school record in attendance. The Scarlet Knights collected the most kills and digs as a program since 2012, the highest serve percentage since 2016 and the most assists since 2018. Alissa Kinkela, who led the team in kills, was named Second Team All-Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights placed 12 entries into the rally-era individual season top 10 records, 13 entries into the rally-era team top 10 records, while collecting the most sets played, kills, assists, assists per set, digs and solo blocks by a team in conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014. Senior libero Madyson Chitty finished her career fifth all-time in career digs and senior middle blocker Kristina Grkovic concluded her career fifth all-time in hitting percentage while setting the rally-era record for solo blocks in a season and career. Rutgers improved its attendance by 50% while setting a program record of 6,757 in attendance at Jersey Mike's Arena when facing No. 1 Nebraska on Nov. 5. Additionally, head coach Caitlin Schweihofer registered her 100th career victory.
- 2022 -
The fall of 2022 saw RU 3-0 for the first time since 1998, with four Scarlet Knights named to All-Tournament squads. By the season's end, Rutgers had 11 entries on the rally-era season leaders list, including tying the record for most kills in a rally-era three-set match and graduate student transfer Megan Vernon, who wrapped up her career ranked second in the rally era in solo blocks in only two seasons as a Scarlet Knight.
- 2021 -
The second season of the Caitlin Schweihofer era saw the Scarlet Knights move a majority of its home games to Jersey Mike's Arena (formerly known as The RAC), playing members of the nation's top conference in the 8,000-seat arena. Rutgers captured set wins over #8 Purdue and #15 Penn State and took Illinois to five sets in front of a national audience on BTN.Ā
- SPRING 2021 -
In Caitlin Schweihofer's first season "On The Banks", played in the spring due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights established themselves as a program on the rise with numerous program and Big Ten firsts. Among the Scarlet Knights' spring 2021 accomplishments were the first-ever All-Big Ten honoree, the first-ever home-opening Big Ten victory, the first-ever Big Ten series sweep, set victories over more than one Top 10 program, along with the team's first-ever wins over Indiana and Michigan State. RU established new team, season and match records for aces, reset program Big Ten game bests in kills, attempts, attack percentage and assists and collected individual conference superlatives in attack percentage, assists and digs.
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| SISTER-SISTER |
- Nebraska natives Kenzie and Kami Dyrstad are among the 10 teams featuring siblings in the same program.Ā
| School | Sister #1 | Sister #2 |
| Rutgers | Kenzie Dyrstad (senior - L/DS) | Kami Dyrstad (freshman - L/DS) |
| St. John's | Kya Harris (junior - MB) | Sumaiyya Harris (freshman - MB/OPP) |
| Fresno State | Olivia Lombardi (r-junior - L) | Gabby Lombardi (r-sophomore S) |
| IU Indy | Kate White (senior - OPP) | Lauren White (freshman- S) |
| Louisiana Tech | Anaya Hairston (senior - MB) | Gabrielle Hairston (junior - OH/RS) |
| Montana | Sydney Pierce (junior - MB) | Brooklyn Pierce (freshman - MB) |
| Northern Iowa | Molly Shafer (sophomore - OH/OPP) | Kate Shafer (sophomore - S) |
| Niagara | Chloe Moreland (sophomore - OH) | Ashley Moreland (freshman - L/DS) |
| Rice | Arissa Smith (senior - MB) | Aaliyah Smith (sophomore - OH) |
| Virginia | Sarah Brodner (junior - OH/RS) | Ella Brodner (freshman - OH/RS) |
| UP NEXT |
- Rutgers volleyball is back on the road, traveling to #12 Purdue on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.Ā and Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. (ET). Both matches will be streamed on B1G+.
- The Scarlet Knights return home to host MichiganĀ on Thursday, Nov. 5Ā at 7 p.m. andĀ USCĀ on Saturday, Nov. 7Ā at 1Ā p.m.Ā Ā Click here to purchase tickets.Ā Ā
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball onĀ Facebook,Ā XĀ andĀ Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's VolleyballSunday, October 18
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